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Sgt Frederick C. H. A. Wyllyams

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Sgt Frederick C. H. A. Wyllyams

Birth
England
Death
26 Jun 1867 (aged 25–26)
Kansas, USA
Burial
Fort Leavenworth, Leavenworth County, Kansas, USA GPS-Latitude: 39.3503339, Longitude: -94.929553
Plot
Section C, site 1890
Memorial ID
View Source
Sergeant, Company G, 7th US Cavalry, killed by Cheyenne Indians.

Born Frederick Charles Henry Augustus Wyllyams to a prominent English family, he was a graduate of Eton and had been sent to America for some impropriety, which he had hoped to regain his family's favor by earning a commission in the US Army. In 1866, he enlisted in Company G, 7th US Cavalry, and was assigned to Fort Hays, Kansas, where his obvious leadership abilities earned him rapid promotion to Sergeant.

While the company was escorting General Wright's railroad survey party to Fort Wallace, Wyllyams became a good friend of fellow Britisher, William A. Bell, the survey party's photographer. Wyllyams was killed in a fight between the soldiers and a Cheyenne Dog Soldier War Party. His body had been stripped of all clothing, scalped, and mutilated, in accordance with Indian customs. The Indians believed that a mutilated enemy would be unable to rest in heaven, being forever crippled even in the afterlife. His friend, William Bell, took the photo of his body. SGT Wyllyams was married on 19 November 1865 in England, to Eliza Matilda Turner (born Dec 1834 in Waddon, Tuffley, Gloucester; died 11 Feb 1881 in Barton Regis, Gloucestershire, England). Following Wyllyams' death, she filed for his Civil War pension, and became a dressmaker to support herself.
Sergeant, Company G, 7th US Cavalry, killed by Cheyenne Indians.

Born Frederick Charles Henry Augustus Wyllyams to a prominent English family, he was a graduate of Eton and had been sent to America for some impropriety, which he had hoped to regain his family's favor by earning a commission in the US Army. In 1866, he enlisted in Company G, 7th US Cavalry, and was assigned to Fort Hays, Kansas, where his obvious leadership abilities earned him rapid promotion to Sergeant.

While the company was escorting General Wright's railroad survey party to Fort Wallace, Wyllyams became a good friend of fellow Britisher, William A. Bell, the survey party's photographer. Wyllyams was killed in a fight between the soldiers and a Cheyenne Dog Soldier War Party. His body had been stripped of all clothing, scalped, and mutilated, in accordance with Indian customs. The Indians believed that a mutilated enemy would be unable to rest in heaven, being forever crippled even in the afterlife. His friend, William Bell, took the photo of his body. SGT Wyllyams was married on 19 November 1865 in England, to Eliza Matilda Turner (born Dec 1834 in Waddon, Tuffley, Gloucester; died 11 Feb 1881 in Barton Regis, Gloucestershire, England). Following Wyllyams' death, she filed for his Civil War pension, and became a dressmaker to support herself.

Inscription

Sergeant, 7 U.S. Cavalry


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